JP3322209B2 - Sound source system and storage medium using computer software - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tone generator system for synthesizing a musical tone using computer software, and a storage medium storing the computer software.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as one of sound source systems for synthesizing musical tones using computer software, a physical model sound source that simulates a sounding mechanism (physical phenomenon) of a natural musical instrument and synthesizes a musical tone of the tone of the natural musical instrument. What is known as (for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.
No. 98).

The physical model sound source specifically simulates the sounding mechanism of a natural musical instrument as follows.

That is, when the natural musical instrument to be simulated is, for example, a wind instrument, a signal (excitation signal) corresponding to the breath pressure of the player is generated, and the breath pressure passes through the tube until it becomes a musical tone signal. Is simulated by at least a delay of an excitation signal and a loop.

When the natural musical instrument to be simulated is a stringed musical instrument, a signal (excitation signal) corresponding to the initial vibration generated in the string by the bow speed and bow pressure of the player is generated, and the signal is generated by the initial vibration. A physical phenomenon until the vibrating string vibrates the string to become a tone signal is simulated by at least a delay of the excitation signal and a loop.

As described above, the physical model sound source simulates the sounding mechanism of the natural musical instrument by delaying and looping at least the excitation signal, so that the physical model sound source can be easily realized by computer software. Has actually been commercialized.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional physical model sound source, that is, a physical model sound source realized by computer software, a musical tone is generated almost only by calculation, so that the amount of calculation is large and the number of simultaneous sounds is large. As the number of computations increases, the computational complexity increases.
Even today, when the performance of the CPU has been improved, the amount of calculation is a great load on the CPU. This situation is
Even when the physical model sound source is not outputting a musical sound, that is, when there is no sound, there is almost no change, and a certain or more calculation load is constantly applied to the CPU. Therefore, when the physical model sound source is activated and executed, it may not be possible to simultaneously activate and execute another application program despite the silent state.

[0008] Regarding the calculation load on the CPU, even if the sound source is a soft sound source other than the physical model sound source (a sound source that synthesizes a musical tone using computer software),
It has been a problem, albeit to a different degree.
The applicant of the present application has disclosed a method of reducing the computational load on a CPU in Japanese Patent Application No. 8-246942 for a sound source type soft sound source. More specifically, the output waveform of the musical tone is monitored, and when the amplitude level of the output waveform becomes smaller than a predetermined threshold value, the calculation in a predetermined waveform generation block (a block described by software) is stopped, and the CPU is stopped.
Is reduced.

By simply applying this method to the physical model sound source, monitoring the output state of the musical sound, and stopping the physical model sound source processing when the sound becomes silent, the CPU
It is also conceivable to reduce the calculation load of.

However, in the physical model sound source, as described above, since a tone is generated at least by delaying and looping the excitation signal, if only the output state of the tone is monitored and the physical model sound source processing is stopped, the tone is changed from the sounding instruction to the tone. Depending on the delay time until the signal is output, there may be a case where the sounding is instructed even if the output state is a silent state.In this case, the operation is stopped during the synthesis operation of the musical tone signal and the performance is stopped. There is a possibility that the musical tone intended by the user may not be pronounced.

The present invention has been made in view of this point, and when a physical model sound source is adopted as a software sound source, a truly silent state is detected and the physical model sound source processing is stopped. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sound source system and a storage medium that can reduce a calculation load on a CPU.

[0012]

To achieve the above object, according to an aspect of the sound source system of the present invention is to generate excited oscillation signal in response to the occurrence request tone signals, thereby at least delay and loop excitation signal the occurrence A tone generation module for generating a tone signal, a first monitoring module for monitoring the presence or absence of the tone signal generation request, and a second monitoring module for monitoring the presence or absence of the tone signal generated by the tone generation module. When the first monitoring module detects that a request for generation of a tone signal has not been made and the second monitoring module detects that a tone signal has not been generated, a sound system using the Turkey computer software having a a stop module to stop execution of the module By the first monitoring module
Monitoring timing and monitoring by the second monitoring module
Between the visual timing and the tone generation module
It is characterized by providing a time difference according to the delay amount.

Here, a physical model sound source is a typical example of the tone synthesis module, but it is not limited to this. The present invention is effective for a tone synthesizing module in which a time delay occurs from the generation of an excitation signal to the generation of a tone signal. As a method of monitoring the generation request of the excitation signal by the first monitoring module, for example, there is a method of storing information related to the generation request in a buffer and monitoring whether the value is “0”. Of course, the present invention is not limited to this, and any method may be used as long as it can monitor the presence or absence of an occurrence request. Various monitoring methods of the tone signal by the second monitoring module are conceivable as in the monitoring method by the first monitoring module. The stop module may be configured to be located inside the tone synthesis module, or may be configured to be located outside the tone synthesis module (the same applies to the following claims).

[0014] In order to achieve the above object, the storage medium of the present invention is to generate excited oscillation signal in response to the occurrence request tone signal, tone by at least delay and loop excitation signal the occurrence a musical tone generating module for generating a signal, a first monitoring module for monitoring the presence or absence of the excitation signal, and a second monitoring module for monitoring the presence or absence of the tone signal generated by the tone generating module, the first Signal excited by the monitoring module
Including but is detected that not occur, and the when it is detected that the tone signal is not generated by the second monitoring module, and a stop module to stop execution of the tone generating module It is characterized by the following.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention
The tone generator system generates an excitation signal in response to a tone signal generation request.
And at least the generated excitation signal is
Generates a tone signal by delaying and looping
Monitoring a tone generation module and the presence or absence of the excitation signal
A first monitoring module and the tone generation module.
Monitoring mode for monitoring the presence or absence of a tone signal generated by
And the excitation signal by the first monitoring module.
Signal has not been generated, and the second
Sound signal is not generated by the monitoring module
Is detected, the tone generation module is executed.
And a stop module for stopping the line.
You.

Further, preferably, the monitoring conditions in the first and second monitoring modules are changed according to the characteristics of the tone signal generated by the tone generating module.

Here, examples of the characteristics of the tone signal include a pitch, a pitch period, a tone color, and the like of the tone signal. The monitoring conditions include, for example, when monitoring is performed using a buffer, the buffer length, a monitoring range in the buffer, and the like.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of hardware for realizing a sound source system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This system is realized by a general-purpose personal computer as the most typical example, and a CPU 3 is used as a main control unit. Under the control of the CPU 3, an OS (Operating System), a performance control application program, a musical tone synthesis application program, and the like. An application program and other programs other than the tone synthesis application program are executed in parallel.

In FIG. 1, a CPU 3 receives a MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) message from the outside and a MIDI interface MIDII / F for outputting a MIDI message to the outside.
1. Timer 2, which measures the timer interrupt time and various times,
ROM (read only memory) 4 for storing various control programs and table data (including a tone color data library); RAM (random access memory) for temporarily storing the selected MIDI file, various input information, operation results, and the like 5) Performance operators 7 such as a keyboard, a wheel, a joystick and the like, setting operators 8 such as a keyboard and a mouse, and a large LCD or CRT, for example.
A display 9 for displaying various information such as a floppy disk drive, a hard disk drive, and a CD for storing various application programs including various control programs executed by the CPU 3 and various data.
An external storage device 10 such as a ROM (Compact Disc Read-Only Memory) drive, an MO (Magneto Optical) drive, and a communication interface (I / F) for transmitting and receiving data to and from the server computer 102 via the communication network 101, for example. ) 14 are connected via the data and address bus 6.

The data and address bus 6 includes:
D for converting a digital tone signal to an analog tone signal via an extension interface (I / F) & extension bus 15
An AC (Digital-to-Analog Converter) 12 is connected. The DAC 12 is connected to a sound system 13 for converting an output of the musical sound signal into sound, for example, including an amplifier and a speaker.

The DAC 12 is a CODEC (COder-DECode
It corresponds to some functions of hardware called r).
The CODEC includes a buffer for storing a digital tone signal which is a basis of a tone signal (analog signal) to be output,
The CPU 3 sequentially sends out tone signals synthesized according to the software sound source program (including at least the physical model sound source program) to this buffer. And CODEC
, Sequentially reads out the stored digital musical tone signals at a predetermined timing, performs D / A conversion, and sends out the digital tone signals to the sound system 13. That is, in the present embodiment, since all the tone signals are synthesized by the CPU 3, the tone generator 11 is not required. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the sound source unit 11 may be provided, and a part of the synthesis of the tone signal may be shared by the sound source unit 11.

For example, a hard disk in the external storage device 10 stores software for realizing a software sound source and other application software, in addition to the software such as the OS and utility software.

The communication I / F 14 is connected to a communication network 101 such as a LAN (local area network), the Internet, and a telephone line, and is connected to the server computer 102 via the communication network 101. When the above-described programs and various parameters are not stored in the hard disk in the external storage device 10, the communication I / F 14 is used to download the programs and parameters from the server computer 102. A computer serving as a client (sound source system according to the present embodiment) transmits a command for requesting download of a program or parameter to server computer 102 via communication I / F 14 and communication network 101. The server computer 102 receives the command, distributes the requested program or parameter to the computer via the communication network 101, and the computer receives the program or parameter via the communication I / F 101, and By accumulating the data on the hard disk in the device 10, the download is completed.

In addition, an interface for directly exchanging data with an external computer or the like may be provided.

FIG. 2 is a diagram visually showing the function of the sound source system of the present embodiment, and shows only those related to the physical model sound source.

The sound source system according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of types of sound source systems (for example, a physical model sound source, an FM (Freque
ncy Modulation sound source, PCM (Pulse Code Modulatio)
n) a plurality of musical tones are generated by a sound source or the like and can be synthesized. Since the feature of the present invention resides in sound source control when a physical model sound source is selected, FIG. 2 shows only functions related to the physical model sound source. Hereinafter, the function of the sound source system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

The sound source system according to the present embodiment has an input section 21 for inputting operator information, performance music data, MIDI messages and the like, and a performance for generating performance control information based on various information input from the input section 21. A control application; a tone synthesis application for synthesizing a tone signal based on the generated performance control information; an OS;
It is mainly constituted by a tone synthesis management section, whose function is partially delegated to the system management section of S.

The input unit 21 corresponds to one of the MIDII / F1, the CPU 3, the performance operator 7, the setting operator 8, and the like according to the type of data (information) to be input. That is, the input unit 21 corresponds to the performance operator 7 when inputting operator information, corresponds to the CPU 3 when inputting music piece data, and corresponds to MIDII / F1 when inputting a MIDI message.

The performance control applications, the performance operation information and parameter setting supply unit 22 supplies the set various parametric Meta underlying the tone synthesis, underlying the tone synthesis with providing an opportunity to start a musical tone synthesizing And a performance operation information supply unit 23 for supplying the same. The parameter setting and supply unit 22 sets various parameters based on the input data from the input unit 21 and supplies the parameters to the performance operation information supply unit 23 and also to the tone synthesis application and the tone synthesis management unit. The performance operation information supply unit 23 generates performance operation information based on the input data from the input unit 21 and the supply parameters from the parameter setting supply unit 22, and supplies the generated performance operation information to the tone synthesis application and the tone synthesis management unit. Specifically, when a wind instrument is selected as a natural instrument to be simulated, the performance operation information includes pitch information, breath pressure information, embouchure information (information on movement of the lips and the like during blowing), and turbulence generated in the pipe. (Expired noise) amount, etc. When a stringed instrument is selected as a natural instrument to be simulated, pitch information,
The position of the bow relative to the string, bow pressure, bow speed, etc.

In the drawing, white arrows indicate that parameters are transmitted, black arrows indicate that performance operation information is transmitted, and shaded arrows indicate digital musical sounds. It means that the signal is transmitted.

The tone synthesis application is configured to generate an excitation signal by an excitation unit 24 and a resonance oscillator that simulates a resonance oscillator (for example, a string instrument or a wind instrument of a natural instrument) by delaying and looping various signals including the excitation signal. A physical model sound source section comprising a body simulation section 25; and an output synthesis section 26 for synthesizing a tone signal to be output by adding an envelope or various effects to the tone signal generated by the physical model tone section as necessary. It is constituted by. The output synthesizer 26 has an output buffer for storing the synthesized tone signal.

The supply parameters from the parameter setting supply section 22 are supplied to the excitation section 24, the resonance vibration body simulation section 25
And an output synthesizing unit 26. The excitation unit 24 includes
The performance operation information from the performance operation information supply unit 23 is also supplied, and the excitation unit 24 generates an excitation signal based on the information and supplies the excitation signal to the resonance vibrating unit simulation unit 25 and the output synthesis unit 26.

The resonance vibrator simulating unit 25 delays the excitation signal from the excitation unit 24 by a delay amount according to the supply parameter, and loops the excitation signal in a mode according to the supply parameter, thereby obtaining the desired natural musical instrument. Simulate the sounding mechanism to generate a tone signal. Among the tone signals thus generated, the tone signal detected from a predetermined position is fed back to the excitation unit 24, and the tone signal detected from another predetermined position is supplied to the output synthesis unit 26.

The output synthesizing section 26 synthesizes a tone signal to be output by applying an envelope and various effects to the tone signal generated as described above in accordance with the supplied parameters and the like, and stores the tone signal in an output buffer. I do. The tone signal stored in the output buffer is read out at a predetermined timing, and is read out from the DAC 12 via the extension I / F & extension bus 15.
And stored in the CODEC buffer.

The tone signal output from the output synthesizer 26 is also supplied to a tone synthesizer. The tone synthesis manager manages synthesized tone signals, and includes an output buffer 27 for storing tone signals and an input buffer 28 for storing performance operation information from the performance operation information supply unit 23. . In the present embodiment, the output buffer 2
7 and the data stored in the input buffer 28, and when the data satisfies a predetermined condition, the task of the tone synthesis application is controlled. More specifically, the tone generation processing in the physical model sound source unit is stopped.

The output buffer 27 and the input buffer 28 are secured on the RAM 5 and configured to operate as a so-called ring buffer. The areas as the output buffer 27 and the input buffer 28 may be secured by an initialization process when a main routine described later with reference to FIG. 5 is started. Of course, not limited to this, when starting sound source related software,
The area may be secured when the output buffer 27 and the input buffer 28 are required, such as when starting a performance.

In this embodiment, since the task control of the software application (tone synthesis application) is performed by the tone synthesis manager, the tone synthesizer uses a part of the function of the system manager in the OS. Like that. That is, the tone synthesis manager is a program closer to a driver than an application program. Of course, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be configured as an application program, or may be configured using only the functions provided by the OS.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a method of monitoring the input (monitoring) buffer 28 and the output (monitoring) buffer 27.

As shown in the figure, both the input buffer 28 and the output buffer 27 are composed of a plurality of buffers. In the illustrated example, the latest data is located at the left end of the buffer. That is, the further to the right of the buffer, the older the data.

One of the input buffers 28 (for example, n buffers) provided with the area a1 is provided when the recorder (vertical flute) is selected as a natural instrument to be simulated. Performance information supply unit 23
Is a buffer in which the supplied breath pressure information is stored. One of the output buffers 27 (for example, two buffers) in which the area A1 is provided is a buffer in which the tone signal output synthesized by the tone synthesizer 26 is stored. The area a1 and the area A1 indicate that data within the area is monitored. That is,
The input buffer 28 monitors data for a part of the data, and the output buffer 27 monitors data for the entire data. The reason why the data is monitored for a part of the input buffer 28 is that it is enough to determine the silent state.
The reason why the data is monitored for a certain area instead of one point is that there is a time delay from when the breath pressure information is supplied to when the corresponding tone signal is stored in the output buffer 27. It is. Further, the reason why the data is monitored for the entire output buffer 27 is that it is not known which area should be monitored because the period of the tone signal to be synthesized is not taken into account. is there. Therefore, if the maximum value of the cycle of the tone signal to be synthesized is known, the area corresponding to the cycle may be monitored. As described above, when the number and length of the buffers and the monitoring area are controlled in accordance with the tone color and pitch (period) of the musical tone to be synthesized, an improvement in the monitoring accuracy of the musical tone generation state can be expected.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example in which an area for monitoring data is also provided in the output buffer 27. FIG. 4A shows one output buffer provided with the monitoring area. (B) shows various waveforms stored in the output buffer of (a).

In (b), the hatched area indicates that all the tone signals to be synthesized are included in this area. For this reason, as shown in (a), the silent state can be accurately determined only by monitoring the output buffer 27 for the area A1 corresponding to the period Tp corresponding to this area.

In the example shown in FIG. 4, the buffer area is determined according to the maximum value of the period of a musical tone that may sound, but the present invention is not limited to this. The buffer area may be determined according to a specific one or a condition selected based on a condition (“average value of up to three low tones”, “sum of lowest and highest sounds”, etc.). Good. For simplification, the buffer length, the monitoring area, and the like may be fixed to predetermined ones.

Referring back to FIG. 3, of the two buffers of the input buffer 28, the buffer provided with the area b1 is:
When the violin is selected as a natural instrument to be simulated, the buffer stores the bow speed supplied by the performance information supply unit 23. The buffer provided with the area b2 is supplied by the performance information supply unit 23. The buffer in which the bow pressure is stored. Then, 2 of the output buffer 27
Of the two buffers, the buffer provided with the area B1 is a buffer in which one of the two tone signal outputs synthesized by the tone synthesizer 26 is stored, and the buffer provided with the area B2 is the other. This is a buffer in which a tone signal output is stored.

Here, the reason that both the area b1 and the area b2 are provided in the middle part of the input buffer 28 is that, in the case of a violin, it takes a longer time to synthesize a musical tone than in the case of the recorder. This is because there is no need to monitor up to the latest input data due to the delay. The reason that the region b2 is provided so as to include the region b1 is that in many cases in the violin performance, the bow speed is generated after the bow pressure is generated. The reason why data is monitored for the entire output buffer 27 is the same as in the case of the recorder, and as described in FIG. May be monitored.

In this embodiment, data monitoring is performed by judging whether or not both the input buffer 28 and the output buffer 27 are in a state where no data is truly input (data value is “0”). I have.

Of course, the monitoring method is not limited to this, and it is monitored whether or not there is data having a data value other than "0" in the buffer or a predetermined area in the buffer, and at least one data which is not "0" is detected. In this case, the sound state may be determined, or the number of data values other than "0" may be detected, and if the number is greater than a predetermined value, the sound state may be determined. Good. Alternatively, the level of each data may be detected, and when there is data exceeding a predetermined threshold, the sound state may be determined. Further, an average value (effective value) of each data, an accumulated value (integral value) of its absolute value, and the like may be calculated, and when the data exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the sound state may be determined. Alternatively, the above determination may be made only for a predetermined frequency component of the target waveform. As a method of determining a specific frequency component,
For example, an analysis by FFT (Fast Fourier Transformation) may be performed, and the determination may be made based on the spectrum or power as the analysis result. As still another method, the pitch of the musical tone may be detected, the content of the fundamental wave or the overtone may be calculated, and the content may be determined based on the calculation result.

In the present embodiment, the output buffer 27 in the tone synthesis manager is monitored. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The output buffer in the output synthesizer 26 may be monitored. , The buffer in the CODEC may be monitored. Also, since the physical model sound source always performs the delay calculation process, the signal after this delay may be directly monitored and the output buffer may be omitted.

The (tone) signal in the excitation unit 24 and the resonance vibrating unit simulation unit 25 may be monitored. Further, signals at a plurality of locations may be monitored to determine the presence or absence of a tone signal (generation) based on a predetermined criterion.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the procedure of the main routine executed by the sound source system of this embodiment, in particular, the CPU 3.

In this figure, the main routine is started, for example, when a power switch (not shown) is pressed (at the time of system start), and first executes an initialization program stored in the ROM 4 or the like. An initialization process such as reading the OS or the like specified by the initialization program from the external storage device 10 is executed (step S1).

Next, a boot process for booting the read OS is executed (step S2). The start-up processing includes start-up processing of various drivers, for example, start-up processing for loading and starting a sound source driver.

In the following step S3, a task management process (system monitor) for performing task management such as instructing any one of the various tasks is executed. In step S4, a task corresponding to the task designated in the task management process is executed. Task selection processing for shifting the processing to the processing to be performed.

In the task management process, one of the following three types of tasks is specified, and in the task selection process, the process corresponding to the specified task is selected and transferred.

1) Tasks related to the user interface 2) Tasks related to the application 3) Tasks related to the driver Here, the tasks related to the user interface of 1) are as follows. This means a task or the like for selecting an icon displayed above and starting the corresponding application software.

When a task in the category of 1) is designated in the task selecting process in step S4, a starting operation process for starting a new task corresponding to the task is executed (step S5), and then the process proceeds to step S3. Return.

When a task in the category 2) is specified in the task selection process in step S4, the process is shifted to an application program corresponding to the task. In the illustrated example, two application programs are activated, and one of the application programs is selected according to a designated task. That is, when the application 1 is designated, the processing shifts to an automatic performance program, and performance information is generated according to the procedure of the automatic performance program (step S6).
Then, when the application 2 is designated, the processing shifts to the operation performance interface program. At this time, when the player operates the performance operator, information corresponding to the operator is input (step S7).

The number of application programs need not be limited to "2", and the number of application programs corresponding to the capacity of the OS or the RAM 5 can be started.

Further, when a task in the category of 3) is designated in the task selection process in step S4, the process is shifted to a driver program corresponding to the task. In the illustrated example, two driver programs are activated, and one of the driver programs is selected according to a designated task. That is, when the driver 1 is specified, the processing shifts to the physical model sound source processing,
A melody sound is generated according to the procedure of the physical model sound source program (step S8). Then, when the driver 2 is designated, the processing shifts to the musical tone waveform synthesis processing, and the musical tone waveform synthesis processing program (this musical tone waveform synthesis processing in this embodiment is used to generate an accompaniment sound.
An accompaniment sound is generated in accordance with the procedure of sound source processing other than the physical model sound source, and an effect applied to the generated accompaniment sound and an effect adding & mixing process of mixing a plurality of accompaniment sounds). (Step S9).

The number of driver programs is also
The number of application programs is not limited to “2” and can be activated in a number corresponding to the OS.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a detailed procedure of the task management process in step S3.

In the figure, first, a task to be switched is specified and a timing for shifting the processing to the task is determined (step S11).

Next, it is determined whether or not the physical model sound source is loaded as a sound source driver (step S1).
2) If loaded, it is determined whether or not it is time to execute the physical model sound source processing (step S).
13).

At step S13, when it is time to execute the physical model sound source processing, the signal state in the input buffer (group) corresponding to the selected timbre is checked (step S14), and then the output buffer (group) is checked. Is checked (step S15). In this step S15, the signal state check is performed for all output buffers when there are only a small number of output buffers, and when there are many output buffers, it corresponds to the selected tone. It is sufficient to perform the process only for the output buffer to be executed.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the detailed procedure of the process of checking the signal state in the buffer. In steps S14 and S15, this process is executed individually.

In FIG. 7, it is determined whether or not the level value of a signal in a monitoring target buffer (an input buffer in step S14 and an output buffer in step S15) is equal to or less than a predetermined value. If the value is equal to or less than the predetermined value, it is determined that the state is "no signal" (step S22).
On the other hand, when the signal level value is larger than the predetermined value, it is determined that the signal is present (step S23).

When there are a plurality of monitored buffers, the above processing is repeated by the number of monitored buffers while switching the monitored buffers.

Returning to FIG. 6, in step S16, it is determined whether or not all the checked buffers are in the "no signal" state. If all of the buffers are in the "no signal" state, execution of the physical model sound source processing is not performed. Set to allow (step S1
7) On the other hand, if any of the buffers is not in the “no signal” state, the execution of the physical model sound source processing is set to be permitted (step S17). Thus, when "disallowed" is set, the physical model sound source processing is not specified in step S11, while when "permitted" is set, the physical model sound source processing is specified in step S11. Become.

On the other hand, if the physical model sound source has not been loaded in step S12, or if it is not the execution timing of the physical model sound source process in step S13, another task management process is executed (step S12).
19) Later, the task management process ends.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the buffer update process. This process is started and executed in response to a timer interrupt signal generated by the timer 2 every predetermined time (for example, 5 msec).

In the figure, first, it is determined whether or not it is time to update the input buffer (step S3).
1) When it is time to update, the contents of the input buffer are updated (step S32), while when it is not the time to update, step S32 is skipped.

Next, it is determined whether or not it is time to update the output buffer (step S33). If it is time to update the output buffer, the contents of the output buffer are updated (step S34). If not, step S34 is skipped and the buffer update processing ends.

In steps S32 and S34, each input / output buffer is updated by a signal at the time of updating (the performance operation information from the performance operation information supply unit 23 and the output synthesis unit 26).
May be stored as it is as the latest data, or the signal may be processed and then stored as the latest data. As a processing method, for example, a method of taking an absolute value or an average value or performing a filter operation can be considered.

As described above, in this embodiment, the presence / absence of a request for synthesizing the tone signal is monitored in addition to the presence / absence of the synthesized tone signal. Since the execution of the physical model sound source processing is stopped only when, the calculation load on the CPU can be reduced within a range not different from the intention of the player.

Next, a sound source system according to another embodiment will be described.

The sound source system of the present embodiment differs from the above-described sound source system only in the position for determining whether or not to stop the execution of the physical model sound source processing. Therefore, only the differences will be described. I do.

That is, the tone generator system of the present embodiment is different from the tone generator system of the above embodiment in part of the task management processing in step S3 and the physical model tone processing in step S8 in the main routine of FIG. ing.
Hereinafter, the differences will be described in the order of the physical model sound source processing and then the task management processing.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a detailed procedure of the physical model sound source processing executed by the sound source system of this embodiment.

In the figure, first, it is determined whether or not a timbre to be synthesized by a physical model sound source is specified (step S41). If the timbre is not specified, the physical model sound source processing is immediately terminated. On the other hand, when the timbre is designated, the process proceeds to step S42.

The processes in steps S42 to S44 are the same as those in steps S14 to S16 described with reference to FIG. 6, and a description thereof will be omitted.

In step S44, if any of the checked buffers is not in the "no signal" state, the tone synthesis operation by the physical model sound source, that is, the physical model sound source algorithm itself is executed (step S45). When all the buffers thus obtained are in the "no signal" state, step S45 is skipped, and the physical model sound source processing ends.

As described above, since the monitoring of the true silent state is performed in the physical model sound source processing, it is not necessary to perform the monitoring in the task management processing. Therefore, the task management process of the present embodiment may use the task management process of FIG. 6 in which this monitoring process is omitted. Specifically, steps S14 to S17 in FIG. 6 are omitted.

In the present embodiment, similarly to the above-described embodiment, in addition to the presence / absence of a synthesized tone signal, the presence / absence of a request for synthesizing the tone signal is monitored. Since the execution of the model sound source processing is stopped, the calculation load on the CPU can be reduced within a range not different from the intention of the player.

In both embodiments, the physical model sound source has been described as an example. However, the present invention is effective for all sound sources in which synthesis of a tone signal is delayed in response to a synthesis request. This type of sound source does not need to be limited to a physical model sound source. At present, the present invention is only effective especially for a physical model sound source. As described above, when a plurality of sound sources to which the present invention can be applied are activated and musical sounds are synthesized, the above-described silent state may be monitored for each sound source.

In both embodiments, the monitoring of the silent state is carried out by input signals (performance operation information) and output signals (tone signals).
Are individually monitored, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the result obtained by combining the respective signals by some operation or the like may be monitored. Further, when a plurality of sound sources to which the present invention can be applied are activated and a tone is synthesized, monitoring is performed for each sounding channel or group thereof, or the result of combining input / output signals for each channel is monitored. It may be.

The buffer length and range to be monitored are fixed in both embodiments (an example of changing the buffer length of the output buffer is shown in FIG. 4). However, the present invention is not limited to this. , Tone group (type of musical instrument), pitch period Tp
It may be changed according to the above.

Further, the monitoring range in the buffer may be controlled in accordance with the tone pitch. For example, the monitoring range is made shorter as the pitch is higher, that is, as the period becomes shorter. As a result, the accuracy of determining a silent state can be improved, and C
The load on the PU can be reduced.

Further, the correspondence between the position of the monitoring buffer and the type of signal to be monitored, the capacity of each buffer, the monitoring range, and the like may be set, or the set values may be stored as tone parameters. .

Further, in both embodiments, an example has been described in which the present invention is realized by a general-purpose computer. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, electronic musical instruments, amusement equipment (games and karaoke are typical examples) Any device that can execute a software sound source, such as various home electric appliances, may be used.

A storage medium storing a software program for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is
It is needless to say that the object of the present invention can be achieved also by supplying the program to a system or an apparatus and causing a computer (or CPU 3 or MPU) of the system or the apparatus to read and execute a program stored in a storage medium.

In this case, the program itself read from the storage medium realizes the novel function of the present invention,
The storage medium storing the program constitutes the present invention.

Examples of a storage medium for supplying the program include a hard disk, a CD-ROM,
O, MD, floppy disk, CD-R (CD-Record
able), magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM
Etc. can be used. Also, another MIDI device 1
The program may be supplied from the server computer 102 via the communication network 101 or the communication network 101.

When the computer executes the readout program, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also the OS or the like running on the computer is actually executed based on the instructions of the program. It goes without saying that a part or all of the above-described processing is performed, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

Further, after the program read from the storage medium is written into the memory provided on the function expansion board inserted into the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, the program is executed based on the instructions of the program. It goes without saying that the CPU 3 provided in the expansion board or the function expansion unit performs a part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

[0096]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When the first monitoring module detects that a tone signal generation request has not been made and the second monitoring module detects that a tone signal has not been generated, execution of the tone generation module is stopped. Therefore, the execution of the tone generation module is stopped only when a truly silent state is detected, thereby reducing the calculation load on the CPU within a range not different from the intention of the player. It has the following effects.

[0097] Preferably, a time difference is provided between the timing of monitoring by the first monitoring module and the timing of monitoring by the second monitoring module in accordance with the amount of delay in the tone synthesis module. Therefore, the detection accuracy of the silent state can be further improved.

More preferably, the monitoring conditions in the first and second monitoring modules are changed in accordance with the characteristics of the tone signal generated by the tone generating module. Can be further improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of hardware for realizing a sound source system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram visually illustrating functions of the sound source system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a method of monitoring an input (monitoring) buffer and an output (monitoring) buffer of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example in which an area for monitoring data is provided in the output buffer of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a main routine executed by the sound source system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a detailed procedure of a task management process of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a detailed procedure of a process of checking a signal state in a buffer.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a buffer update process.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a detailed procedure of a physical model sound source process executed by a sound source system according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 timer 3 CPU 4 ROM 5 RAM 7 performance operator 8 setting operator 10 external storage device

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G10H 1/02 G10H 1/18 101 G10H 7/08

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A with generating a excitation oscillation signal in response to the occurrence request tone signal, a tone generation module that generates a musical tone signal by at least delay and loop excitation signal the occurred generation request of the musical tone signal a first monitoring module for monitoring the presence or absence of a second monitoring module for monitoring the presence or absence of the tone signal generated by said tone generation module, generating a request tone signal has not been made by the first monitoring module use it is detected and, when the tone signal by the second monitoring module has been detected that they are not generated, a Turkey computer software having a a stop module to stop execution of the tone generating module The sound source system , the timing of the monitoring by the first monitoring module and the timing before the monitoring.
Between the timing of monitoring by the second monitoring module and
A time difference corresponding to the delay amount in the tone generation module.
Computer software characterized by providing
Sound source system used . 2. An excitation signal is generated according to a tone signal generation request.
And at least delay the generated excitation signal.
Music that generates a tone signal by extending and looping
A sound generation module; A first monitoring module for monitoring the presence or absence of the excitation signal
When, The tone signal generated by the tone generation module
A second monitoring module for monitoring presence / absence; An excitation signal is generated by the first monitoring module
Has not been detected, and the second monitoring module
Detected that no tone signal was generated by the
Execution of the tone generation module is stopped when
Computer having a stop module
Sound source system using software. 3. The monitoring condition of the first and second monitoring modules is changed according to characteristics of a tone signal generated by the tone generating module. A sound source system using the described computer software. Wherein while generating the excitation oscillation signal in response to the occurrence request tone signal, a tone generation module that generates a musical tone signal by at least delay and loop excitation signal the occurrence, Mu chromatic of the excitation signal a first monitoring module that monitors, and a second monitoring module for monitoring the presence or absence of the tone signal generated by the tone generating module, the excitation signal by the first monitoring module may not occur And a stop module for stopping the execution of the tone generation module when the second monitoring module detects that the tone signal has not been generated. Storage medium.